New Delhi: In an effort to woo Dalit voters in Mumbai, the ruling Congress and the NCP have crossed swords on changing the name of Dadar railway station.

The NCP is demanding to name the station as Chaitya Bhoomi, while the Congress wants to rechristen it as Dr BR Ambedkar.

Chaitya Bhoomi is the final resting place of the Baba Saheb near the Dadar’s railway station. Mumbai Congress Chief Kripashankar Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh insisting on naming Mumbai railway station as Dr BR Ambedkar, whereas earlier, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar demanded to name the station after Dr. Ambedkar’s final resting place Chaitya Bhoomi.

The demand for changing the name of the station is being seen as a move to woo the Dalit vote bank after the pro-Dalit Republican Party of India joined hands with the BJP and the Shiv Sena in the run up to civic polls in 2012.

Manikrao Thakre, president of Maharashtra Congress, said in a press conference that they had sent a letter to the Central government a year ago regarding the renaming of Dadar railway station as Dr BR Ambedkar. The party said Dr Ambedkar’s followers are also in favour of naming the station after Baba Saheb.